One is the Loneliest Number*

I hate doing things by myself. I know everyone says 'it's important to learn,' and 'you have to be comfortable with yourself before you can be comfortable with anyone else,' and yada yada ya, so I continue to try. Every time...I hate it.

But then something remarkable always seems to happen.

In the midst of my despise and awkwardness, I usually stumble upon a hip bar with an intriguing waiter, or an odd couple anxious to chat, or a group of new friends along a bustling street. 

As it turns out, hanging with myself (and inevitably, strangers) summons similar feelings to those that I have about exercising. I hate every moment preceding it, but once I'm there—and especially once I'm home—I'm much happier for it.

Last night, I was alone in Ireland. I considered ordering roomservice and playing on Facebook, two things I love (eating and stalking :), but instead, I pulled myself—drunken with jetlag—out onto the streets of Dublin. 

I immediately regretted the decision. I had no clue where I was going, and there were plenty of actual drunks wandering from pub to pub, music spilling into the streets in their wake.

It was actually a place I think I would enjoy, if I didn't feel so threatened at that moment in time.

(Temple Bar in Dublin...before sunset!)

Notheless, I pushed onward.

I decided upon a sweet little cafe. There was a 30-minute wait to add salt to my single-girl wounds, but I eventually ended up sitting next to a young couple, who were out for an evening without kids. We chatted, laughed and (as the Irish say) had a grand time gabbing about our countries and our lives that seemed so similar and parallel, though across an ocean. As I got back to my hotel that night, I had only one regret: that I had no way to stay in touch with my new-found friends.

So, I suppose if there is ever a moral, mine is staring me in the face. But as my new buddies said to me: "seldom is wonderful."

I think I'll follow the Irish on this one and stick to seldom.


*This post (and a few forthcoming) were written and posted a few days late. The interwebs are hard to find in Ireland!